Seniors help Knights storm to sixth straight NLC title

PALMER — Mononucleosis nearly shut down his senior season and a major earthquake has temporarily closed down his school, but Colony senior Eric Christy found a way back on to the mat to win his third straight region championship and help lead the Knights to their sixth straight team title during the Northern Lights Conference Championships Saturday at Palmer High School.

Christy beat Kodiak senior Josh Nummer 3-0 in the 171-pound final.

“It felt good. It was a good day,” Christy said right before the tournament’s awards ceremony.

The match featured a pair of defending state champions. Christy won the state title at 170 pounds last year. Nummer won it all at 160.

“It was not an easy match,” Christy said.

Christy scored his lone takedown of the match near the edge of the circle during the final seconds of the first period, and stretched his lead to 3-0 with an escape in the second. It’s the second straight season Christy needed to beat a defending state champ to score a region crown. As a junior Christy edged Palmer’s Levi Farris 5-4 to win a title. With the victory, Christy also won his third consecutive region title and his 49th straight match. As a junior last season, Christy finished 39-0. Christy has not suffered a loss since the consolation semifinals of the state tournament during his sophomore season.

The championship final was also only his ninth match of his senior year, after missing most of the season with mono.

“It started in the middle of September and I figured it out at the end of October,” Christy said. “It was horrible. Constant congestion, runny nose, head always hurt, body ached all the time. Hot and cold, I’d wake up dripping with sweat in the middle of the night.”

Christy said at one point, he was afraid he’d miss his entire senior season of wrestling.

“At first I was, but made a quick recovery,” Christy said. “Feeling great now.”

If mono wasn’t enough for Christy, he and his teammates missed about a week of official team practices because of the 7.0 earthquake that struck Southcentral Alaska Nov. 30. Christy managed to make his way into Anchorage the day after the earthquake to compete in the Grace Christian tournament, his first action of the year. Christy won his weight class.

“I needed matches. It was good to get in there, get a tournament in before regions,” Christy said.

Christy was the only Valley wrestler in the tournament.

Prior to regions, Colony head coach Todd Hopkins said his athletes have been working out on their own while the school is temporarily closed due to damage sustained during the earthquake. Hopkins said the Knights were able to host a team practice offsite on Dec. 6, the day prior to regions. Colony High is not scheduled to re-open to students until Dec. 14.

But the Knights made the most of their time in the Palmer High gym during the two-day tourney, winning their sixth straight team title with 411 total points. Christy was one of five seniors and a half-dozen Knights to win individual titles Saturday. The group also includes senior Trace Severson, who was named Most Outstanding Wrestler following the tournament. In the finals, Severson earned a win by major decision, beating Wasilla junior Sterling Uhlenhake 10-0 in the 145-pound final. Serverson, who improved to 20-4 with the win, handed Uhlenhake just his fourth loss of the year.

Senior Rush Fannon completed the NLC four-peat, winning the fourth region title of his career. Fannon, also a two-time defending state champion, pinned Wasilla’s Wesley Wolff in the 140-pound final.

Brothers Levi Hopkins and Jared Hopkins earned their second region title each. Levi, a senior, pinned Soldotna’s Brennan Werner in the first round of the 189-pound final. He also won his weight class in regions as a freshman. Jared, a sophomore, earned his second straight region title by pinning Palmer’s Payton Portney in the 125-pound final.

Carter Silva won an all-Colony bout at 112, pinning teammate TJ Clapp.

The Knights moved 11 wrestlers into the finals and were represented in 10 weight classes. Clapp (112), Aidan Ehmann (119), Kayden Payne (130), Vincent Cramer (135) and Jamar Tosten (215) finished as a runner-up.

Wasilla finished second in the team standings with 308 total points. Hunter Hayes earned his second straight region title by beating Cramer 9-4 in the 135-pound final. Chandler Jasper and Alex Logsdon also won their respective weight class. Jasper beat teammate Weston Nelson in an all-Wasilla match at 103. Logsdon slipped past Ehmann 4-1 at 119.

Nelson (103), Wolff (140), Uhlenhake (145) and Austin Hacker (160) each finished second.

Asa Barnes led Palmer with a region title. The senior beat Soldotna’s Dennis Taylor 3-1 at 152 pounds. Portney also advanced to the finals for the Moose and finished second.

The top five wrestlers in each weight class earned a berth for the Division I state tournament, which starts Friday at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.

Contact Frontiersman editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Northern Lights Conference Championships

Friday-Saturday, Palmer High School

Team scores:

1. Colony 411; 2. Wasilla 308; 3. Soldotna 191; 4. Palmer 157.5; 5. Kodiak 79.

Championship finals:

103 pounds — C. Jasper, Was m.d. W. Nelson, Was 12-0; 112 — C. Silva, Col p. T. Clapp, Col 1:58; 119 — A. Logsdon, Was d. A. Ehmann, Col 4-1; 125 — J. Hopkins, Col p. P. Portney, Pal 4:51; 130 — G. Hutchison, Sol d. K. Payne, Col 5-0; 135 — H. Hayes, Was d. V. Cramer, Col 9-4; 140 — R. Fannon, Col p. W. Wolff, Was 3:33; 145 — T. Severson, Col m.d. S. Uhlenhake, Was 10-0; 152 — A. Barnes, Pal d. D. Taylor, Sol 3-1; 160 — J. Goodman, Kod d. A. Hacker, Was 3-2; 171 — E. Christy, Col d. J. Nummer, Kod 3-0; 189 — L. Hopkins, Col p. B. Werner, Sol 1:31; 215 — A. Faletoi, Sol d. J. Toston, Col 3-2; 285 — M. Lloyd, Sol p. E. Floyd, Sol 2:53.

Third-place matches:

103 — E. Cordell, Col d. J. Ritz, Col 9-4; 112 — L. Craig, Sol p. L. Hayes, Was 2:03; 119 — J. Harvey, Col p. T. Foss, Was 4:34; 125 — Z. Loutzenhiser, Col d. F. Elvsaas, Was 7-3; 130 — B. Stevens, Kod p. R. Gallgher, Col; 135 — I. Rodman, Was d. O. Manley, Pal 4-2; 140 — H. Sasser, Col d. N. Williams, Was 5-4; 145 — G. Dean, Was p. Z. Deemer, Pal 2:47; 152 — J. Tolsten, Col d. J. Mathews, Was 5-2; 160 — L. Erwin, Col p. R. Bailey, Was 0:43; 170 — C. Lindquist, Was won by fft L. Farris, Pal; 189 — C. Roberts, Col d. D. Parker, Kod 4-2; 215 — J. Palmer, Was p. L. Frank, Pal 1:35; 285 — E. Connaker, Col p. D. Van Slyke, Col 2:31.

Fifth-place matches:

112 — C. Jones, Was won by fft G. Lorring, Kod; 119 — G. Blydenurgh, Pal t.f. B. Mason, Pal 16-1; 125 — B. Booth, Sol p. A. Corbridge, Pal 2:05; 130 — W. Fraker, Was p. S. Logsdon, was 2:55; 135 — J. Christianson, Pal t.f. R. Birbilas, Kod 15-0; 140 — S. Watchus, Pal p. B. Owens, Pal 2:32; 145 — B. Wolfe, Sol won by fft B. Lestenkof-Chapman, Col; 152 — T. Thornill, Col d. B. Keeney, was 6-5; 160 — M. Floresta, Col p. M. Godwin, Pal 1:26; 171 — S. Babitt, Sol p. D. Vroman, Was 1:58; 189 — J. Acree, Pal p. C. Boyd, Sol 0:24; 215 — M. Rogers, Sol p. R. Westover, Col 4:11; 285 — G. Aderman, Pal p. H. Buckley, Pal 4:11.

Girls championship finals:

103 — T. Pendergrass, Pal p. A. Boucher, Was 1:49; 112 — G. Stigen, Col p. H. Simpson, Was 1:35; 119 — H. Warner, Was p. C. Maxon, Col 1:08; 125 — K. Gerasimyuk, Was p. Z. Covington, Col 1:19; 130 — O. Troxell, Kod p. V. Baker, Sol 4:10; 135 — E. Lorring, Kod bye; 145 — K. Laasch-Gray, Col bye; 160 — A. Wylie, Sol p. R. Toston, Col 0:20; 235 — A. Brown, Pal p. J. Agbayani, Pal 0:42.

Girls third-place matches:

119 — J. Robbins, Col bye; 125 — K. Hutchings, Col bye; 130 — I. Underhill, Pal bye;